Week 5

This is the third- and I swear- the last rewrite of this installment of my blog! In the event you may be counting, this is post #176. I'd like to take a moment, before I forget, to welcome a few nations to my readership (this is called a "shout-out" in American pop media.)

First, my newest readers in Brunei- welcome! I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Norway, which Jennifer and I tried so hard to visit in the 90's! Lastly (everyone knows that lists are MOST effective in three's), thanks to my readers in Algeria!

So there- three countries on three different continents. I really enjoy blogging, but I wish I had better analytics available. That's okay- knowing that one's work has been read in fifty-three countries around the world is a bit humbling- especially as most of these countries do not use English as their primary language. Of my top 10 markets, the United States is the biggest with generally 75-77% of readership. After, that, however, come the following (in order of most views):

2. China
3. Russia
4. Germany
5. France
6. Japan
7. United Kingdom

Of these, three don't even use the same alphabet that I do! And only one speaks my language! I truly wish I had better analytics!

As I write this, it is approximately 0600 on the 1st of September, 2015. The official release date of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Mr. T is generally not awake at 0600, but because he had a Steam key issued to him because of a purchase we made a few months back, he is fully dressed, the cats are fed, tea is brewing and he is ready!

Lastly, as mentioned in the very first paragraph, this particular blog has had more than its share of birth pangs. Some blogs tend to "write themselves." As an aspiring author, I tend to love those. Others require some thought and planning- these are fun as well. However, there are days- weeks, in fact, where there's nothing there. And for amateur writers like me, these tend to stink the worst. The thing is this: I'm not writing for fame or fortune. I'm writing because I BELIEVE. What do I believe? I believe there are folks out there who want to read my thoughts. I didn't believe this at first, but after a couple of years and readers in over fifty countries, this is a fact.

And the funny thing about all of this is this: I don't know why folks are reading my blog. If I were a business, this would be a huge data FAIL. As it stands, I'm a small data producer and consumer.

Speaking of small data, I wanted to share a bit about my "new" fitness regimen. Like all "great" plans (of anything), my plan predicates its success on simplicity.

The simplicity of my plan is based upon my work schedule. Like most peeps, I work five days per week, The difference is when I work. While most "normal" humans work something like a 9-5 workday, my workday is generally something like 2000-0400. Generally is the operative term. For example, it is now Wednesday the 2nd of September, around 1000 (GMT -6). Yesterday started out as a normal day, but evolved into an eleven hour workday. I'm not complaining, as we do get overtime, but a bit of warning would be nice!

That's all I've got for now. Stay tuned for another exciting adventure next time- one of these days I hope to talk a bit about the data in my weight loss program.

As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis nd management so you don't have to.